The Set of the Sails

From the Hoi Polloi Tarot, the Three of Wands; from the I Ching Pack, Mountain over Mountain (hexagram 52):

          This fellow is waiting for his ship to come in. Judging by the three staffs leafing out, effort and action are about to produce a result. Many folks wait on ships without doing or changing a thing, as if wishing hard will make it happen. This man would tell us not to wait for fate to intervene or good fortune to arrive at our doorstep - we need to get things moving. But once we've put things into play, the outcome is often out of our control. Mountain over Mountain (hexagram 52) represents stillness and patiently waiting. If what arrives at the dock is not what we wanted, we can rethink our plan, learn from our mistakes, and do things differently next time. 

One ship sails East,

And another West,

By the self-same winds that blow,

'Tis the set of the sails

And not the gales,

That tells the way we go.

~Ella Wheeler Wilcox